Dear Editor,
Whilst I accept that there are a range of views within our community, regarding the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the debate around constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Peoples. What I cannot accept is comments – such as those recently attributed to Damian Drum.
Last week, Mr Drum was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying “I’ve never supported a third chamber. I don’t think mainstream Australia supports a third chamber. And the sooner a third chamber is taken off the agenda the quicker we are going to reach true reconciliation.”
Mr Drum is doing himself and his constituents a disservice by keeping the erroneous idea of a fabled ‘third chamber’ alive. The fact is that the Uluru Statement has only ever been a proposed voice to parliament, not a voice of parliament.
I find it frustrating and rather galling that the Member for Nicholls, representing Victoria’s largest Aboriginal population outside Melbourne, would perpetuate such a falsehood. I call on Mr Drum to actually read the statement and engage in good faith with this debate, for the good of Indigenous Australia and the nation as a whole.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Bock
Euroa
